Arguments and disputes between children are rarely taken seriously, and are usually seen as nothing more than frivolous playground disputes.

But in January when The Royal Gazette reported a school hall stabbing between two girls that landed a 14-year-old in hospital with knife wounds to her side, it became obvious that flare-ups between children can be as destructively violent as fights between adults.

But thanks to a new programme called "Fresh Start'' instituted by the Coalition for the Protection of Children, the two girls involved in the stabbing are attempting what many adult Bermudians are unable to do: bury the hatchet, let bygones be bygones, and move on with their lives.

And Coalition for Protection of Children chair Sheelagh Cooper said so far, the programme has proved to be quite a success.

"The first two students in the pilot programme were the girls who were involved in a stabbing at CedarBridge,'' said Mrs. Cooper.

"Those girls have done extremely well and have responded to this approach.

They both just blossomed, they are lovely young ladies. Instead of focusing on their problems, we have focused on their strengths.'' "Michelle'', who recently turned 15, said she and "Denise'', who is also 15, had been having personality clashes since they were both about 12-years-old.

Both of their names have been changed to protect their privacy.

Their personal dispute became progressively worse until it finally boiled over, resulting in the stabbing at CedarBridge during the first week of January, 1999.

Mrs. Cooper intervened and attempted to act as a mediator between the teens since, as Michelle admitted, the two girls refused to even speak to each other at first.

And according to Michelle, the Fresh Start programme has completely changed the way she interacts with all of her peers -- not just Denise.

"The first time (Denise) and I were in a room together after the accident, I didn't want to say anything to her and she didn't want to say anything to me,'' Michelle noted.

"For a whole week, we wouldn't say anything to each other -- it would be me and her and Ms Cooper and Ms Kit (Swainson) and I'd just answer Ms Cooper and Ms Kit.

"It was really hard, but I decided to keep trying because I didn't want people to go around looking at me like I was a crazy person.

"Nobody really knew the whole story about the accident with me and her, but (classmates) would come up to me like I was crazy, and be rude and negative to me.

"I wanted to resolve the whole thing so I didn't have to worry about fighting with her every time I walked down the street.

"Bermuda is so tiny, and you're always bumping into people -- I didn't want to walk around with a grudge between us for the next 20 years.

"So at first, nothing whatsoever was getting through... but as we went (to the Coalition) more and more, that wall finally started to fall.'' Mrs. Cooper explained that most of the children participating in the programme have been involved in some form of altercation, although the programme will be offered to students on a volunteer basis as well.

"Our first approach is mediation and conflict management. With these girls we did mediation immediately,'' said Mrs. Cooper.

"Being involved in that mediation was not only transformative for these girls, but for me too.

"I watched them move from a position of anger and rage to being able to understand each other's point of view, all the dynamics of how the conflict evolved, appreciate the extent to which their friends escalated the conflict, and in the process, appreciate a way of understanding that there is an alternative way.

"We did more in an hour and a half of mediation than we could have done in a year of individual counselling.

"From that moment on, not only were they able to have a relationship with each other which was a positive one, it changed their perception of themselves.

"Mediation is an immediate, practical problem-solving process, not like psychotherapy where you can talk for years.'' Michelle was very enthusiastic about the programme and how it's helped her interact with her peers.

"It's made things a lot easier, and it's made me a better person. I'm more understanding, it's helped me to see more clearly, and it's helped me to deal with situations like that better,'' Michelle said.

"If a girl approached me with an attitude before, I would think about getting hostile.

"But now I try to put myself in other people's shoes, and I look at the whole situation before I react to it.

"I feel proud of myself -- this has been a big step, especially for a teenager. Most kids my age would've kept holding the grudge.

"Now, I'm catching up on my school work, improving my hard math skills, and I don't mind that we're in the same class together.

"For me, the grudge isn't completely clear, but it's almost finished -- and I feel that by the time I'm finished all the stages, it will be completely gone.'' Michelle said that as dramatic as her situation became, the circumstances were not unique -- and she said most of the children her age have an enormous amount of anger and resentment simmering inside as a result of their everyday lives.

Teens get `Fresh Start' taking on a lot of complications and we carry a lot on our shoulders over family, friends and other things.

"My Nana would never have had to see the type of things I've seen (when she was my age).

"I don't think any child as young as me should have to go through this -- and it's not about how I was raised, or family problems or anything like that.

It's what we're all surrounded by, the whole environment,'' she said.

"Every child is going through something like this. It may not be this serious, or in some cases it has been this serious and never told -- bruises, scars, bottles broken over them that they never told their parents about.

"A child raised in this environment is automatically angry from seeing the violence and corruption -- if not here in Bermuda, then on TV. It just builds up after a while, and when they get to be my age, how bad is it going to be?'' Despite the rocky road, Michelle seems well on her way to a Fresh Start -- but the programme may not be for everyone.

Although "Denise'' is now able to have a civil conversation with Michelle, she was not as enthusiastic about the success of the programme when speaking with The Royal Gazette .

"I just want to go home -- they told me that unless I'd be her friend, I couldn't go home,'' said Denise flatly.

When asked what she's learned from the programme, she stated: "Get in fights because you get a lot out of it: people pay for our school and take us out to lunch.

"The whole report (about the stabbing) in the newspaper was a lie. .. I just want to go home.''